Open AccessMorphological, vocal and genetic divergence in the Cettia acanthizoides complex (Aves: Cettiidae)
Author(s) -
ALSTRÖM PER,
OLSSON URBAN,
RASMUSSEN PAMELA C.,
YAO CHENGTE,
ERICSON PER G. P.,
SUNDBERG PER
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00250.x
Subject(s) - biology , plumage , taxon , zoology , divergence (linguistics) , evolutionary biology , morphology (biology) , ecology , philosophy , linguistics
We used morphological, vocal and molecular (one mitochondrial and two nuclear loci) data to re‐evaluate the taxonomic status of the taxa acanthizoides , concolor , and brunnescens in the Cettia acanthizoides (J. Verreaux, 1871) complex. We conclude that all three are valid taxa, and that acanthizoides of China and concolor of Taiwan are best treated as conspecific, whereas brunnescens of the Himalayas is better considered as a separate species. The degree of morphological, vocal, and genetic differentiation is variably congruent among all taxa; the recently separated acanthizoides and concolor differ slightly in plumage and structure but are indistinguishable in vocalizations, whereas the earlier diverged brunnescens and acanthizoides/concolor differ only slightly more in morphology but to a much greater degree in vocalizations. We stress the essential nature of taxonomic revisions as a prerequisite for the biodiversity estimates required for conservation planning. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 149 , 437–452.